Multiple arrests at Palestine Action protest after group banned by government
A mass of Metropolitan Police officers circled around dozens of protesters standing quietly beneath the statue of Mahatma Ghandi in central London.
The protesters were holding placards that said: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'.
Occasional chants of 'free Palestine' broke out from the surrounding onlookers, and some criticised the police presence.
It came hours after Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday which sought to stop the protest group being banned.
The move was confirmed less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight.
The designation as a terror group means that membership of or support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The protest started at about 1.10pm and officers were seen taking people away shortly after 1.30pm.
An elderly woman in a dog collar, who was sat in a camp chair with one of the placards at her feet, appeared to be taken away by officers.
A woman seen lying on the floor in handcuffs was carried away in the air by officers and put in a police van.
While suspended and flanked by a large group of police, she said calmly: 'Free Palestine, stop the genocide, I oppose genocide, I support the rights of the Palestinian people, I support freedom of speech, I support freedom of assembly'.
A mass of people crowded around to film the scene.
Officers placed her in the vehicle parked on the road behind the square before returning to the Mahatma Ghandi statue, where almost no protesters remained.
Chants of 'shame' broke out, directed at the police, and officers moved behind the Ghandi statue.
One supporter, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: 'These brave people are prepared to keep the spirit of support for Palestine alive, and they've stepped up to defend our civil liberties.
'It's making me feel powerless. I think so carefully about what I can say.
'I can't be true to my life, to my feelings and beliefs.
'I've never felt like that before. It's a frightening feeling. It's chilling.
'I was a Labour Party support member for years, and I'm shocked that the Labour Government is doing this: Yvette Cooper is doing this and she's had heavy pressure from the Zionist regime, this Government, from the Board of Deputies.
'They've all been lobbying her to get heavy on Palestine Action.'
The Metropolitan Police posted on X saying: 'Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square.
Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square.The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence.Arrests are being made. Further updates will be shared here.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) July 5, 2025
'The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence.
'Arrests are being made.'
Most of the police dispersed at around 2.10pm.
Palestine Action lost their late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday evening.
In a letter to the Home Secretary, protesters said: 'We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction. But we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order.'
A Home Office spokesperson said about the ban on Saturday: 'We welcome the Court's decision and Palestine Action are now a proscribed group.
'The Government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and our priority remains maintaining the safety and security of our citizens.'
It comes after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action.
Police said caused around £7 million of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was 'disgraceful' and that the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday.
Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident at Brize Norton.
They appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
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